BLIMPIE TO UNWIND PASTA CENTRAL CO-BRANDED QSR CONCEPT

ROSEANNE HARPER

NEW YORK -- Blimpie International here is set to launch its Pasta Central quick-service restaurant, a concept Blimpie officials say could work inside supermarkets.

The concept co-brands Pasta Central entrees with its traditional Blimpie menu items, thus giving customers the option of a hearty hot meal as well as a full range of Blimpie sub sandwiches and salads. The pasta selections also are offered self-service in single-serving packages from a tiered, refrigerated case in-line with the service counter.

Feb. 26, Pasta Central will get its debut in a small Missouri town, Marshall, that has a population topping out at 14,000. The only competition is a Subway and a local pizzeria.

"We wanted to see if an upscale, quick-service restaurant like this could serve as an option in a town where people don't have a lot of food-service choices," said Kevin McQueen, Blimpie International senior brand manager, who is working on the Pasta Central team.

McQueen describes the ambiance of Pasta Central as a quick-service Italian restaurant with a Starbucks touch.

Within a month, March 15, the second Pasta Central will be opened in downtown Boise, Idaho, where competition consists of every QSR one could think of, said McQueen.

Both locations -- at 2,000 square feet and 3,000 square feet, respectively -- are freestanding, but the company is in discussions right now that could culminate in a link-up with a travel center, McQueen said.

"We're also exploring possibilities on college campuses, inside hospitals, inside supermarkets. It's a concept that certainly could work there," he added. The extensive menu's pasta-based entrees range in retail price from $4 to $6. There are also two varieties of "fun pasta" in the shape of soccer balls and cleats for kids. They're available with butter sauce, marinara, or just cheese, for $1.99.

Celentano Bros., Verona, N.J., a major supplier of all-natural frozen entrees to supermarkets, will supply Pasta Central with a variety of baked entrees, which include chicken parmesan, baked ziti, lasagna with meat sauce and eggplant parmesan. Celentano also produces a line of fresh, never-frozen chilled entrees. The entrees destined for Pasta Central units, however, will be shipped frozen, a Celentano spokeswoman said.

Those items, along with some others -- including desserts -- supplied by national manufacturers, will carry the Pasta Central label. They'll share the self-service case with a selection of salads packed in-store, McQueen said.

At the service counter, the Blimpie brand and the Pasta Central brand get equal billing, McQueen added.

"Both menu boards will be overhead. It amounts to essentially having the two separate brands, but they're existing under one roof."